How to Calculate Protein, Fat and Carb Food Ratios

Adults under 5 feet tall, babies and children under 12 years of age calculate their ratios differently than adults 5 feet tall and children 12 years and older—see the section below for people under 5 feet tall, babies, and children under 12 years of age.

Caution: Do not translate calculated grams to amounts, quantities, weight, size, etc. of foods you need to consume because it doesn’t work that way.

Use a Nutritional Calculator to Figure Out the Quantities of Foods You Need to Consume in order to meet your calculated protein, fat and carb ratios. Some people use Fitday.com to help with planning this out.

Consumed ratios do not have to be exact.

It is very important that your carb ratios are low, but your fat and protein ratios must not be lower than your calculated ratios,except when you are slowly changing over to this program. Also, protein can be a lot higher when you are able to consume at least the lower range of your fat ratios.

Calculations for people 5 feet tall and over.

In order to calculate your daily food intake needed, first you need to calculate how many grams of protein you need to consume in a day to satisfy the body’s requirements. This amount depends upon the person’s “due body weight” (defined below). Please note that babies, children, and people that are 5 feet and under need to calculate their ratios differently—see the directions below.

“Due body weight” in kilograms, is equal to the person’s height in centimetres less 100; height in feet and inches is translated to kilograms, which is noted below.

The daily ratio of proteins, fats, carbs are calculated in grams, not calories, as follows:

1 gram of protein per kilogram of “due body weight”

Fats are calculated by taking each gram of protein multiplied by 2.5 (minimum) to 3.5 (maximum)

Carbs are calculated by taking each gram of protein multiplied by 0.8 (overweight people should consume lower carbs at 0.5 or 0.3).

Next take the amount of centimetres and subtract 100, i.e. 167.54 minus 100 = 67.54, or rounded out to 68, which equals “due body weight.”

Thus, 68 is the amount of protein grams to consume daily.

To calculate fats, take 68, which is your “due body weight,” and multiply it times 2.5 to find out the minimum amount of fat grams to consume daily, i.e. 68 x 2.5 = 170 grams of fat. For the maximum amount of fats to consume, take 68 x 3.5 = 238 grams of fat maximum.

Babies & Children: Note: Children over 5 feet tall are calculated the same as adults above, which is by their height in centimetres.

Determine your child’s weight in kilograms (1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds), i.e. pounds divided by 2.2 = kilograms. Once you know that, calculate the average amount of calories needed: Number of kilograms x calories = daily amount of calories needed.These calculations are for a normally active child. A child that is much more active needs more calories per day. A reasonable rule of thumb for this extra need is for an active child (defined as an hour per day of sustained physical activity) needs about 1.25 times their calories calculated below. A very active children (defined as more than 90 minutes of sustained physical activity per day) needs 1.5 times their calories calculated below.

Age newborn to 3 months: 100 calories per kilogram per day.

Age 3 months to 3 years: 90-100 calories per kilogram per day.

Age 3 years to 8 years: 80-90 calories per kilogram per day.

Age 8 years to 12 years: 60-80 calories per kilogram per day.

Age 12 years to 16 years: 45-60 calories per kilogram per day.

Split Calories into Protein, Fat and Carbs Calories:

Protein: Total calories needed per day times 13%, for example 1,500 x 13% = 195 calories.

Fat: Total calories needed per day times 76%, for example 1,500 x 76% = 1,140 calories.

Carbs: Total calories needed per day times 11%, for example 1,500 x 11% = 165 calories.

After you write down protein, fat and carbs grams (above) that are needed per day, use a nutritional calculator to determine the amount of foods you need to consume in order to meet your ratios. Do not translate your ratio grams to amounts, i.e. weight or size, because it doesn’t work that way.

Follow the Instructions in Fitday.com – How to Use it to get total grams for each food group of foods consumed in one day, so you can see where you need to increase or decrease foods or adjust amounts consumed up or down to meet your calculated ratios.